MediaTek thinks it found a mole

Taiwan-based chip designer MediaTek is on a roll, but the company is also dealing with a somewhat embarrassing internal issue.

Earlier this week the company said that it has “good reason” to believe that it has identified a traitor in its ranks. The company thinks its smartphone chip deparment head Yuan Di-wen is guilty of industrial espionage. A spokesperson said the company plans to file criminal and civil charges against Yuan and that it has good reasons to do so.

Prosecutors are taking the matter seriously. They have already requested a freeze on Yuan’s assents and he may even be banned from travelling pending further court hearings, reports Want China Times. It is still unclear what if anything Yuan stole from MediaTek, or perhaps more importantly – who did he sell it to?

With or without Yuan's alleged shenanigans, MediaTek is on track to have a very good year indeed. The company is hoping to double its shipments of tablet SoCs this year and sales of smartphone parts are as strong as ever.